Microsoft Office 2010 Beta now available for download

Last week Microsoft announced the release of the Office 2010 Beta to the public. This release was created based on your feedback, plus a year's worth of validation and testing - the results are amazing! Office 2010 offers an exceptional productivity experience across the PC, phone and browser. Now is the opportunity to see Office 2010 for yourself - the beta offers tonnes of new features such as Office Backstage View, Ribbon user interface across all applications, photo and video editing in PowerPoint, fast new data comparison tools in Excel, improved mail & calendar management in Outlook and much more.  The beta is available for download now at: http://co1piltwb.partners.extranet.microsoft.com/mcoeredir/mcoeredirect.aspx?linkId=12887564&s1=17cc5c8f-83b6-11ab-9512-2d385cad2589 

Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta ...

  • Take control of your e-mail and calendar with conversation management tools, mail tips, calendar preview and more in Outlook 2010
  • Track changes to shared notebooks in OneNote 2010
  • Discover more features with the Backstage View and the Office ribbon, now featured in all Office applications
  • Add the "wow" factor to your presentations by easily editing and compressing videos and photos in PowerPoint 2010, then showing the world with Broadcast Slide Show
  • Make fast, effective comparisons of data using Excel 2010's new conditional formatting, including sparklines, and find the pivot table information you need more easily with slicers

For a quick introduction: check out some of the videos and demos of what's new in the Office 2010 release at the above web site

  • Office 2010 Overview
  • Outlook 2010
  • Excel 2010
  • OneNote 2010 
  • PowerPoint 2010
  • Word 2010
  • Visio 2010
  • SharePoint Workspace
  • Office Web Apps

Windows 7 should you get it?

Windows 7 was released by Microsoft on October 22, and has been dubbed by users as the true successor to Windows XP that Vista never was.

It is not without flaws and a number of features feel incomplete, and of course there will be problems that even Microsoft is not even aware of yet. However, I don’t recall any Windows or Apple Operating system released that did not come with more problems than you can poke a stick at in its first release. Windows 7, is the least imperfect new operating system we have ever come across.   Windows 7 includes productivity improvements such as:

  • The ease of getting access to all my stuff by using Pin and Jump Lists. In addition I can use Windows Search to find a specific file, program, or e-mail instantly.
  • The ability to instantly locate and open virtually any file on your PC, from emails to documents to programs and songs, right from the Start menu just by typing a word or two.

The two biggest problems documented are:

  • Its incompatibility with a number of applications, especially critical business applications. The jury is still out on the incompatibility issue but Windows 7 Pro and Ultimate come with a feature called Windows XP Mode, this allows you to run older XP business software on the Windows 7 PC which gives you some insurance over the incompatibility problem.
  • Its slowness. Different commentators have offered differing comments on the speed of Windows 7. The majority have found Windows 7 to be faster than Vista (and even XP) but by varying degrees depending on the application and the hardware.

So should you adopt Windows 7? It would appear:

  • If your present PC already successfully runs Vista and you feel that the benefits are worth the cost, then by all means upgrade to Windows 7. However, Windows 7 has been released only very recently. It may pay to sit back and let the early pioneers uncover the bugs. In the next few weeks and months Microsoft and other parties are likely to release fixes and your chances of a pain free migration to Windows 7 will be much better.
  • If your PC is not up to spec, stay away.
  • If you are getting a new PC, our general advice is to opt for Windows 7. Windows 7 (Release Candidate version) has been tested here for months now and for the vast majority of users the benefits outweigh the risks.

Many people have heard about Windows 7 but are still confused about which version is right for them. Windows 7 is available in three versions. Find out <http://co1piltwb.partners.extranet.microsoft.com/mcoeredir/mcoeredirect.aspx?linkId=12913425&s1=17cc5c8f-83b6-11ab-9512-2d385cad2589> which version of Windows 7 is right for you.

Once you know which version is right for you, you'll need help upgrading. You can upgrade to Windows 7 from either Windows Vista or XP. Here are some things that you should consider before you install Windows 7. You can also purchase Windows 7 already installed on many new PC's. At the above link Microsoft have an article on 10 tips for buying a laptop. It's a must read before you start your holiday shopping.

Considering purchasing Microsoft Office 2007? Office 2007 trials are at http://co1piltwb.partners.extranet.microsoft.com/mcoeredir/mcoeredirect.aspx?linkId=12913435&s1=17cc5c8f-83b6-11ab-9512-2d385cad2589 are a great way to try Microsoft Office before you buy. Experience all the great features available in Microsoft Office 2007 for 60 days for free